Pedal



G. F. LONG.

PEDAL.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 31.1917.

PatentedJune 6, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

MI I/E IV TOR G'. F. LONG. PE'HDAL.

I APPLICATION lflLED DE.3I, 1917. 1,418,313. PatentedJune 6, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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A TTOR/VEY GEORGE E. none; or NEW YORK, N. Y.,-nssro1von To THE o. rrnn COMPANY, Inc, A conroRA-rion or new "roan. I

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PEDAL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pat-9 11 61 June (S, 1922 Application filed December 31, 1917'. Serial No. 299,626.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that LG-nonon F. LONG, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York city, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pedals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates broadly to a pedal actuated control mechanism of general ap plication and particularly designed for moving machine parts against the resistance of strong controlling springs. a

In some devices, such as muffler cut-outs of the typeusually employed in automobile, engine constructions, it is necessary to hold the by-pass controlling gates in closed position by means of strong springs, for otherwise, the heavy enginesuctionwhich sometimes develops in connection with these muffler cut-outs, is of suliicient power to raise the gate into open position. In order to open these gates it is necessary therefore to work against the tension of these heavy holding springs, and in order to develop the necessary operating powerwhenthe gates are opened manually, it has been usual to employ .a long hand lever. This form of operating device not only detracts from the appearance of the car interior, but requires the operator to remove his hand from the steering wheelyin order to actuate the lever. In this way he loses control of the car usually at a time when the control of the steering and power mechanisms is of equal importance with-the control of the cut-out. Accordingly, one of the object-sot the in vention is to provide a simple, compact form of actuating mechanism capable of developing the necessary actuating power and which may be positioned out of the way underneath the vehicle floor and arranged so as to be actuated by a foot pressure on a small pedal member which extends through the floor convenient to the operators foot.

Another object of the invent-ionis to provide in such a construction, a locking means for holding the controlled mechanisms in abnormal position, which means are de signed to be moved to and from its locking position, simply by kicking the control pedal to one side or the 'other.

Another ob ect of the invention is to provide in such a device a simple form of adjustable connection with the cut-out or other mechanism wherever it may be placed relative to the pedal, while maintaining a positive and rigid connection between the pedal and the mechanisms controlled thereby.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious from an inspection of the accompanying drawingsand inpart will be more fully set forth in the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying my invention, and the invention also consists in certain new and novel features of construction and combination of set forth and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a vertical sectional view through a supporting floorand attaching bracket showingmounted. thereon a preferred embodiment of my invention in side elevation; a i

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional 1 view through one form of mechanism designed to be controlled by the device shown in Fig ure 1; i

Figure 3 is a right end elevational view of the device shown in Figure 1; and

Figure s is a plan view showing the de-- may be considered as the flooring of an automoloile body and which constitutes a support for the control; It is assumed, forthe purpose of this disclosure that the automobile carries at some suitable place thereon a muffler cut-out ll of any conventional'form and spaced from the control, mechanism. The muiiler cut-out taken from the United States Patent to Piel No. 1,065,467; granted June 24;, 1913, and shows a gate 12 normally held in closed position by a relatively strong spring 13 acting on the gate controlling rod 14. The gate is moved to and from its closed position by means of a lever 15 which extends laterally from and is fixed to the rod 14%.

The control mechanism particularly forming the subject matter of this invention includes a bracket 16, the pedal actuated parts carried thereby to ether with a ri id reach I .a z: as

parts hereinafter herein illustrated is tical reciprocating movement.

2 v 1,4-ie

rod 17 which has one end pivotally connected to the lever 15 to actuate the same.

The bracket 16 is an L plate with a vertically disposed and depending supporting flange 17 and a horizontally disposed flange 18 designed to engage the underside of the floor 10. The bracket is fastened to the flooring by means of through bolts 19 passingthrough the flooring and flange 18. It desired, the bolts may be caused to pass through atop plate 20 positioned on top of the flooring 10 opposite the flange 18 there by to brace the floor therebetween. The top plate20, flooring 10 and flange 18 are slotted therethrough to provide a vertically disposed opening 21' constituting a guiding means "for confining the thrust member 22, hereinafter more fully described, in its ver- For conven ience in mounting the device in position upon the floor of the vehicle, the portion or the opening 21 extending through the'tlo'oring 10 is preferably a straight circular drilling of a diameter equal to the greatest width'of the thrust member 22. In this case dependence is placed upon the conformation of the opening in the flange 18 and plate 20 which are fitted to the cross section of the thrust member, so as to provide a two point guiding engagement therewith.

A gear trainis mounted on the flange 17 adjacent its lower edge and includes a driv ing' spur gear 23 suitably mounted to revolve about a fixed axis 24 and continuously meshing with. a driven spur gear 25 demountably supported upon a stud bolt shaft 26. This bolt extends loosely through the flange 17 and is held in place by the nut27 engaging the bolt on the rear side of the flange as shown in Figure A: relatively long arm 28 extendsradially "from the gear 23, hasits outer end ofl set see Fig. 3) andextendsupwardly to'the underside of the tla'ngelS in position slightly offset from the opening 21. The thrust member 22 is a Hat steel blade, somewhat L-shaped in side elevation with a horizontally extending projection 29 defining its lower end. This extension constitutes a stop for engaging the underside of the flange 18 to limit the upward movement'of the thrust member. The projection is provided with a slot 30 extending lengthwise thereof. A pivot pin 31" connects the outer end of the arm 28 with the slot 30 so as to form a sliding pin and slot connection between the thrust member 22 and the driving gear 23. The upper end of the thrust member 22 provided with a head 32 for receiving the operators foot as is usual in. pedal construe. tions. The portion otthe thrust member opposite the gear28 is cut away from the cap end to provide an upwardly facing shoulder 33 which shoulder is adapted to engage une. der the flange 18, when the pedal is depressed, as shown at dotted'lines in, Figure 1, thereby to lock the thrust member in its depressed position. When depressed into this locked position the rod 17 is so held that the gate 12 is maintained in open posi tion against the tension of the closing spring 13.

The gear 25 is provided with a relatively short arm 3% integrally extending radially from" the periphery thereof and pivotally connected to the end of the rod 17 opposite the end connected tothe lever 15.

In operation and with the device mounted in position as shown no. Figure 1, the nut 27 v on the supporting bolt shaft 26 may be loosened sufiiciently to permit the bolt to be shifted until thegear 25 is free to be moved into a position disconnected from its mesh- 17 can then be connected tothe muiller lever 15 with the gate'12 either inthe fully closed posit-ion shown in Figure 2, min any other desired partially opened position; During this adjustment the gear 25 is rotated freely on the shaft 26 and when the connection with the muffler lever-is fixed thev gear-25 is moved" the "thrust "me mber into its lowered posi-' tion. During this actuation the lever is guided through the openlng 21 andswings the arm 28 over an'arc which is almost a vertical straight line and acting on thetrain of gears to convey motion "through the reducing set to pull the rod 17 in the'direction indicated by the arrows in Figures 1 and 2. The parts are proportioned and disposed that the arm 28- at the beginning of g the stroke is above and inclined at about 45 to the horizontal and dur ng the thrust is caused to pass across the horizontal to a position depending at about 15 to the horizontal. In this way the downward thrust of the opera'tors foot is economically transmitted into rotary movement of the gear train. As the lever 28 isrelatively long compared tojthe lever 34-, it will be apparent that there is a material reducing power transmission afforded by this device and this reducing is further enhanced by making the gear 25 of larger diameter than the gear 23, thus providing a simple compact form of reducing gear set. y

By this device the actuators it'oot, moving over a relatively long distance (six or seven inches) acts through the reducing gear train to open the gate 1.2 the;

to move thepowertully heldgate 12 over a relativelyshorter distance to fully open the same. Bythis, means a quick, powerful thrust of the operators toot upon the pedal quickly opens the cut-out even against the tension of the powerful holding spring 13. \Yith the thrust member depressed the operator meves his toot laterallythus causing the shoulder to engage underthe flange 18 to hold the gate in opened position shown in dottedlines inl igure 2. I

When. it is desired to closev the gate the operator simply kicks the depressed head 82 and the, spring 13 is then tree to react through the mechanism and return the parts to their normal posit-ions.

By means of a device of this characterit is possible to installa pedal actuated mechanism for operating against the tension of a heavy spring and, to position the same in a small compact space out of the way. beneath tain novel features of my invention, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair of meshed geared members, a relatively long arm extending radially from one or the gear members to turn the same, a manually actuated thrust member pivotally connected to said arm, means for guiding the thrust member, said arm movable over an arc and across aradial line perpendicular to the line of thrust of said member, and a mechanism control member connected to the other geared member and actuated thereby.

2. In a device of theclass described, the combination of a pair of meshed gear members, a relatively long arm extending radially ij'rom one of the gear members to turn the same, a manually actuated thrust member pivotally connected to said arm, means for guiding the thrust nember, said arm movable over an arm and across a radial line perpendicular to the line of thrust of said member, and a mechanism control member connected to the other geared member and actuated thereby, said arm and geared ment bers co-acting to form a reducing gear connection between the thrust member and the control member.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair of meshed geared members, a relatively long armextending radially from one of the gear members to turn the same, a manually actuated thrust member pivotally connected to said arm,

means for guiding the thrust member, said arm movable, over an arc and across a radial.

line perpendicular to the line of thrust of said member, a mechanism control member connected to the other geared member and actuated'thereby, and means actingonthe thrust member for returning the same to its normal position. j i

' 4t. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair of meshed gears c o actingv to form a reducing gearing, a thrust member operatively connected to one of said gears to turn the same, means for guiding said member in a line perpendicular to a radius of said gear and a pull member connected to the other gear and operatively connected to be actuated from the turning movement of said other gear.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a gear, a thrust member mounted for reciprocatory movement and means pivotally connecting said member with the gear to rotate the same by a thrust on said member, a supporting member, a second gear demountably carried by said support and adapted to be revolved about its axis and set in adjustable meshing engagement with the teeth of the first named gear, and a mechanism control rod connected to said second gear to be actuated by the rotation thereof.

6. In a device of-the class described, the combination of a gear, a thrust member mounted for reciprocatory movement and means pivotally connecting said member with the gear to rotate the same by a thrust on said member, a supporting member, a second gear demountably carried by said support and adapted to be revolved about its axis and set in adjustable meshing engagement with the teeth of the first named gear, a mechanism control rod connected to said second gear to be actuated by the rotation thereof, and means for securing said second gear in its adjusted position relative to the first named gear.

7. An article of manufacture constituting a valve control including a supporting bracket provided with means for fastening the same to the underside of a floor and provided with a thrust member-guiding-opening extending therethrough, a gear train mounted on said bracket, a thrust member guided in said opening and operatively.con-

nected to the first member of the gear train for turning the same, and a control rod pivoted to the last member of the gear train.

8. An article of manufacture including a. supporting bracket provided with means for fastening the same to the underside of a floor and provided with a thrust member-guiding-opening extending therethrough, a gear train mounted on said bracket, a thrust member guided in said opening, a pin and slot connection between the lower end of the thrust'memberand the first member of the gear train, and a control rod pivoted to the angle to said direction, a member rotatab-ly mountedapart from the line of movement of said pedal extension but having an arm extending towards said pedal and a pin on said arm near the outer end thereof engagin said slot, whereby movement of said pe a1 is transmitted to the rotatable member.

10. In acontrol mechanism the combination of a pedal, a support therefor constructed to guide the pedal in a. predetermined direction through said support, said pedal having a lateral extension with a slot disposed at an angle to said direction, a member rotatab-ly mounted apart from the line of movement of said pedal extension but having an arm extending towards the pedal, a pin on said arm near the outer end thereof engaging said slot and resilient means acting on the pedal to maintain the pedal in its normal 7 position.

Signed at New York in the county of Queens and State of New York this 7th day of November A. D. 1917.

v GEORGE F. LONG.

Witnesses: e

H. F. WHITE, GEO. H. TRUE. 

